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Actual Size
Just how big is a crocodile? What about a tiger, or the world's largest spider? Can you imagine a tongue that is two feet long or an eye that is bigger than your head? This book illustrates animals both large and small at their actual size.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
42 people are currently reading
1200 people want to read
About the author
Steve Jenkins
135 books238 followersSteve was born in 1952 in Hickory, North Carolina. His father, who would become a physics professor and astronomer (and recently his co-author on a book about the Solar System), was in the military and, later, working on science degrees at several different universities. We moved often. Steve lived in North Carolina, Panama, Virginia, Kansas, and Colorado. Wherever he lived, he kept a menagerie of lizards, turtles, spiders, and other animals, collected rocks and fossils, and blew things up in his small chemistry lab.
Because he moved often, Steve didn't have a large group of friends, and he spent a lot of time with books. His parents read to him until he could read himself, and he became an obsessive reader.
His interest in science led me to believe that I'd be a scientist himself. At the last minute, he chose instead to go to art school in North Carolina, where he studied graphic design. After graduation he moved to New York City, where he worked in advertising and design, first in large firms and then with his wife, Robin Page, in their own small graphic design firm. Robin, also an author and illustrator, is his frequent collaborator — they've made sixteen children's books together.
Their daughter Page was born in 1986 and our son, Alec, two years later. They began reading to them when they were just a few months old, and Steve became interested in making children's books himself. My wife and I read to our two older children almost every night until hisdaughter was 12 or 13, long after they were reading on their own. It was, in many ways, the best part of the day.
In 1994 they moved to from New York City to Boulder, Colorado, where they work in a studio attached to their house, which was built in the 1880s and often functions as if it were still the 19th century.
Their youngest son, Jamie, was born in 1998. The questions his children asked over the years have been the inspiration for many of their books.
Librarian's Note: There is more than one author with this name in the Goodreads database.
Because he moved often, Steve didn't have a large group of friends, and he spent a lot of time with books. His parents read to him until he could read himself, and he became an obsessive reader.
His interest in science led me to believe that I'd be a scientist himself. At the last minute, he chose instead to go to art school in North Carolina, where he studied graphic design. After graduation he moved to New York City, where he worked in advertising and design, first in large firms and then with his wife, Robin Page, in their own small graphic design firm. Robin, also an author and illustrator, is his frequent collaborator — they've made sixteen children's books together.
Their daughter Page was born in 1986 and our son, Alec, two years later. They began reading to them when they were just a few months old, and Steve became interested in making children's books himself. My wife and I read to our two older children almost every night until hisdaughter was 12 or 13, long after they were reading on their own. It was, in many ways, the best part of the day.
In 1994 they moved to from New York City to Boulder, Colorado, where they work in a studio attached to their house, which was built in the 1880s and often functions as if it were still the 19th century.
Their youngest son, Jamie, was born in 1998. The questions his children asked over the years have been the inspiration for many of their books.
Librarian's Note: There is more than one author with this name in the Goodreads database.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 451 reviews
April 12, 2017
Actual Size by Steve Jenkins is a children's book that shows you the exact size of different animals, insects and even fish. We enjoyed the illustrations that are made from cut and torn paper. The illustrations have such a real feel and almost look to be textured on the page, but when you touch them they're just smooth pages.
Children will see the true sizes of an ostrich, crocodile, gorilla hand, atlas moth, giant squid and more.
I think our absolute favorites were the goliath birdeater tarantula and giant walking stick!
An added bonus are the pages of facts for each species in the back of the book.
4****
Children will see the true sizes of an ostrich, crocodile, gorilla hand, atlas moth, giant squid and more.
I think our absolute favorites were the goliath birdeater tarantula and giant walking stick!
An added bonus are the pages of facts for each species in the back of the book.
4****
October 10, 2010
This is yet another picture book about nature from Jenkins, and another winner.
I’ll try to remember this book next time I say I have a large spider in my apartment. I never knew there were spiders so large, and I’m glad I’ve never seen one off the pages of a book.
This is a rather large picture book and a couple of times pages fold out so there is more space to see the actual size of an animal or part of an animal. Biggest, heaviest, occasionally smallest animals of their type are the most featured. Often, just a part of an animal is shown.
As is typical of Jenkins’s work, the main part of the book has photos and some basic information, then in the back of the book, there is more detailed information given for each animal covered in the main part of the book.
This way, children in a wide age range can enjoy the book, as can adults. Many of these animals are impressive, and interesting to learn about and view.
The illustrations are so good. They don’t try to look like photos but they do look very realistic. I love collage art and these particular cut and torn paper pictures are wonderful.
I’ve loved every Jenkins book I’ve read and I’m very happy that I have more existing books of his to enjoy; I’m hopeful he will create more brand new books too.
I’ll try to remember this book next time I say I have a large spider in my apartment. I never knew there were spiders so large, and I’m glad I’ve never seen one off the pages of a book.
This is a rather large picture book and a couple of times pages fold out so there is more space to see the actual size of an animal or part of an animal. Biggest, heaviest, occasionally smallest animals of their type are the most featured. Often, just a part of an animal is shown.
As is typical of Jenkins’s work, the main part of the book has photos and some basic information, then in the back of the book, there is more detailed information given for each animal covered in the main part of the book.
This way, children in a wide age range can enjoy the book, as can adults. Many of these animals are impressive, and interesting to learn about and view.
The illustrations are so good. They don’t try to look like photos but they do look very realistic. I love collage art and these particular cut and torn paper pictures are wonderful.
I’ve loved every Jenkins book I’ve read and I’m very happy that I have more existing books of his to enjoy; I’m hopeful he will create more brand new books too.
December 15, 2010
What fun! A book about animals that presents them "actual size" Well, not that the book is big enough to fit a gorilla or a giant squid, but you can see the actual size of the giant squid's eye (about the size of a basketball!) and put up your hand to see how BIG the gorilla's hand is by comparison. There are some really cute little animals that are shown in their entirety, like the teensy pygmy lemur. And if you're into creepy-crawlies, there's the full-size giant Gippsland earthworm, all 36 inches of it! I'm sure I would have loved this book as a kid and I really appreciate it now. My husband was even intrigued enough by the huge spider on the back cover to take a peek inside :-)
May 22, 2018
This is a really interesting picture book. The idea of focusing on scale is an good and this appeals to the young children I know. The illustrations are good, we liked the collage technique and there's an information page at the back. Great for young children interested in animals.
May 6, 2018
I honestly have not found this here Kindle edition of Steve Jenkins' Actual Size even remotely aesthetically pleasing and for that matter not even all that reader and user friendly either. And while indeed I do believe that the paper, that the dead tree editions of Actual Size, I likely would have much appreciated and perhaps even loved, with the Kindle version of Actual Size, showing the genuine, the true dimensions of the animal species featured and presented, this just does not really work well at all, and it certainly has been and proven more frustrating and visually aggravating than in any manner stimulating and awe-inspiring (or eye-catching) and with certainly not much of a sense of magic and wonder, with mainly and generally just major visual annoyances at the choppy and sometimes a bit washed out and blurry nature of the Kindle rendered illustrations (which is truly sad, considering how talented an artist Steve Jenkins is).
And honestly, the only reason why I was still considering a two star ranking for the Kindle edition of Actual Size (for a while at least) is because Steve Jenkins' supplemental notes and details on each of the eighteen analysed and depicted animal species (at the back of the book), well these are most definitely both interesting and enlightning, educational, albeit the lack of a bibliography with suggestions for further reading is also more than a trifle frustrating and annoying at best (but considering that so much of the power and the aesthetic presence of Actual Size are supposed to rest with Steve Jenkins' animal illustrations, and that the featured species of critters are supposedly shown and illustrated as they truly are size wise, sorry, but the Kindle edition is just not at all successful with regard to this, and is in fact, at least for and to me, to and for my eyes, woefully substandard and even sadly painful, feeling visually, aesthetically disjointed and fragmented).
Therefore, while I do in fact recommend Steve Jenkins' Actual Size, I absolutely DO NOT IN ANY WAY suggest reading the Kindle edition, as especially that which makes this book so interesting and seemingly wonderful, namely the depictions of eighteen animal species in their actual, in their genuinely authentic dimensions just does not really function even a tiny bit adequately as an e-book, as a Kindle download (is truly and frustratingly a total epic failure digitally speaking). And this is also why upon a bit of personal reflection, my two star ranking of last night has now been downgraded to but one star (as I for one am getting more than a bit sick and tired of substandard picture book renditions for the Kindle, and frankly, these do in my humble opinion rather massively abound, and it does at least to and for me often seem as though while there indeed are more and more picture books available on the Kindle, their formats, the way that illustrations are transferred, the size of the printed words often leave very much to be desired).
And honestly, the only reason why I was still considering a two star ranking for the Kindle edition of Actual Size (for a while at least) is because Steve Jenkins' supplemental notes and details on each of the eighteen analysed and depicted animal species (at the back of the book), well these are most definitely both interesting and enlightning, educational, albeit the lack of a bibliography with suggestions for further reading is also more than a trifle frustrating and annoying at best (but considering that so much of the power and the aesthetic presence of Actual Size are supposed to rest with Steve Jenkins' animal illustrations, and that the featured species of critters are supposedly shown and illustrated as they truly are size wise, sorry, but the Kindle edition is just not at all successful with regard to this, and is in fact, at least for and to me, to and for my eyes, woefully substandard and even sadly painful, feeling visually, aesthetically disjointed and fragmented).
Therefore, while I do in fact recommend Steve Jenkins' Actual Size, I absolutely DO NOT IN ANY WAY suggest reading the Kindle edition, as especially that which makes this book so interesting and seemingly wonderful, namely the depictions of eighteen animal species in their actual, in their genuinely authentic dimensions just does not really function even a tiny bit adequately as an e-book, as a Kindle download (is truly and frustratingly a total epic failure digitally speaking). And this is also why upon a bit of personal reflection, my two star ranking of last night has now been downgraded to but one star (as I for one am getting more than a bit sick and tired of substandard picture book renditions for the Kindle, and frankly, these do in my humble opinion rather massively abound, and it does at least to and for me often seem as though while there indeed are more and more picture books available on the Kindle, their formats, the way that illustrations are transferred, the size of the printed words often leave very much to be desired).
March 9, 2010
My class loved when we read this book together. This picture book is good for students in Kindergarten and up. The book presents many animals or parts of animals with a short text and a picture that is the size of that animal or animal part. For example, the eye of the giant squid takes up an entire page. The information is presented with a bit of humor and end notes that give more facts about each animal. The pictures are bright and stand out on the white background. It would be fun to have students make their own "Actual Size" books with things from their desks or their homes.
December 6, 2019
AWESOMEEE.
I am asking for this for the holidays. For me myself the grown up not even for my classroom.
I am asking for this for the holidays. For me myself the grown up not even for my classroom.
April 20, 2018
This is a great nonfiction book that shows a variety of animals (or their parts) as actual size. I read this to preschool and PreK kids. Their favorites were the spider and the tiger. It’s also good to guess the animal on some of the pages.
December 25, 2012
I love all of Steve Jenkins' books. This one shows the extra size of parts of animals through pictures, ie. the hand of a gorilla and the nose of a bear. Even I was intriqued! At the back of the book is additional information about the animals discussed in the book.
February 13, 2017
Kids love to put their hands up alongside that of the gorilla. It still amazes me that all his illustrations are done with cut and torn paper. Such talent!
December 2, 2020
Science teaches us that as infants cultivate new motor skills, opportunities for action emerge and infants begin to detect these opportunities. Perception is one of the most important motor milestones to appear early in life. It allows infants to act on the world, independently obtain and closely examine objects of interest, and engage in triadic social exchanges involving objects and people.
Decades of research have conclusively demonstrated that, human observers’ perceptions of distance and spatial relationships are inaccurate. One frequent finding is that distances in depth (i.e., along an observer’s line of sight) are compressed and appear smaller than equivalent fronto-parallel distances
Taking on the concept of scale, award-winning master of collage illustration Steve Jenkins creates one of his greatest books yet for young readers and listeners.
In this huge picture book, he shows 18 life-size animals in whole or part, sometimes making their authentic size clear through comparisons with everyday objects. Though he supplies ample textual information, the startling images most effectively tell the story. Among these are a giant squid eye that is larger than a human head, a massive gorilla hand, a tiny dwarf goby, a two-inch pygmy shrew, and a saltwater crocodile with a face so large it requires a multipage foldout.
Kids who view size as a personal matter will appreciate the book’s size-and-weight information and love the extreme images of big and small.
One especially challenging aspect of early motor development is that infants’ bodies and abilities are changing rapidly. How responsive are infants’ cognitive and motor systems to such changes in strength, size and ability?
Do infants alter their actions and goals immediately, once new skills become available?
Or do new skills remain unused for weeks or months before infants begin to exploit them?
Read this fabulous book of 30 odd pages out loud to your kid. The reading might be over in under 20 minutes, but his questions would keep coming at you for a far far longer period of time.
He’ll love it.
Decades of research have conclusively demonstrated that, human observers’ perceptions of distance and spatial relationships are inaccurate. One frequent finding is that distances in depth (i.e., along an observer’s line of sight) are compressed and appear smaller than equivalent fronto-parallel distances
Taking on the concept of scale, award-winning master of collage illustration Steve Jenkins creates one of his greatest books yet for young readers and listeners.
In this huge picture book, he shows 18 life-size animals in whole or part, sometimes making their authentic size clear through comparisons with everyday objects. Though he supplies ample textual information, the startling images most effectively tell the story. Among these are a giant squid eye that is larger than a human head, a massive gorilla hand, a tiny dwarf goby, a two-inch pygmy shrew, and a saltwater crocodile with a face so large it requires a multipage foldout.
Kids who view size as a personal matter will appreciate the book’s size-and-weight information and love the extreme images of big and small.
One especially challenging aspect of early motor development is that infants’ bodies and abilities are changing rapidly. How responsive are infants’ cognitive and motor systems to such changes in strength, size and ability?
Do infants alter their actions and goals immediately, once new skills become available?
Or do new skills remain unused for weeks or months before infants begin to exploit them?
Read this fabulous book of 30 odd pages out loud to your kid. The reading might be over in under 20 minutes, but his questions would keep coming at you for a far far longer period of time.
He’ll love it.
April 30, 2020
Wow what an incredible book. I love how it compares the size of animals using scale images and drawings. It's a very interactive and visual book which would be suitable for all ages but would really engage younger children. It contains some great facts for all children, but would really engage children who are interested in animals. It would be a great book to use with maths as children could measure out the different animals and make charts to compare them, or could do scale drawings of animals with chalk on the playground. Children could compare their hands to the size of gorilla hands which is a great interactive activity which would engage children in the reading of the whole book. I would really love to use this book with a class in the future I think it has so many cross curricular links with maths and science, you could base a whole topic on this book. In English children could write about how you can compare the size of animals, or they could write a recount about how they felt when they compared the size of their hands and feet to animals in the book. They could write about the emotions they experienced when they realised the size of the different animals hands and feet compared to their own.
April 22, 2019
Genre - Informational (non-fiction)
Grades - K-5th
Informational/non-fiction texts were one I grew a much deeper appreciation for throughout the semester. Actual Size by Steve Jenkins was one of my favorites in this category due to its ability to literally bring the world of animals to life. It includes illustrations of animals, insects, and birds that are all drawn life size. The drawings are lovely/appealing to look at and extremely informative. Each drawing is realistic enough to give readers the impression of what the creature/animal is like, yet is still soft and attractive for children of all ages!
Grades - K-5th
Informational/non-fiction texts were one I grew a much deeper appreciation for throughout the semester. Actual Size by Steve Jenkins was one of my favorites in this category due to its ability to literally bring the world of animals to life. It includes illustrations of animals, insects, and birds that are all drawn life size. The drawings are lovely/appealing to look at and extremely informative. Each drawing is realistic enough to give readers the impression of what the creature/animal is like, yet is still soft and attractive for children of all ages!
August 24, 2021
This book, Actual Size by Steven Jenkins is a great book for children related to earth and science. This goes through the actual sizes as illustrations as well as statistics of their measurements of animals that kids maybe have heard about or maybe even have seen. It goes trough things such as squids, frogs, and many more. This book would be a wonderful science resource and allows children to see how animals are really sized compared to different items or maybe even them.
December 11, 2024
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to face off with a Siberian tiger? In author and illustrator Steve Jenkins’s NCTE Orbis Pictus Award-winning book, Actual Size, you can! Jenkins created every illustration to scale of how big the animals are in real life. Not only does he inform readers about all different kinds of animals, but he creates an interactive experience where they can compare themselves to the actual size of animals. He provides accurate information in a simplistic way that children can understand while also providing extra and in-depth information in the pages in the back of the book for readers who want to expand their knowledge. This would be a great book for anyone who’s interested in science and is engaging for people of all ages!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 23, 2020
THIS WAS UNSPEAKABLY COOL and the paper collage illustrations were absolutely gorgeous.
July 22, 2021
All the animals in the story are the actual size in the story just as if you would meet them in the wild! I love this as a compare/contrast book for science lessons.
July 14, 2017
Sooo cool! One of my favorite NF books for kids!
December 14, 2023
Really enjoyable and engaging book. Math that doesn't feel like math!
February 16, 2017
Actual size is a Monarch Nominee. The book describes and portrays illustrations that show the actual size or close to the actual size of animals and insects around the world. The book is very simple and easy to read. It describes some very interesting facts that can be very educational to young children.(monarch nominee)
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November 11, 2018Actual Size is an informational book about the size of animals and being able to see the body parts of the animal without actually going near one. It is a great book for children who are learning about different kinds of animals that live all over the world. It gives the reader use of imagination because all the illustrations in the book are the actual size of the animal’s body part so it is a fun way to imagine based off the image in the book how big the animal really is in real life. On every page it describes what the animal is, a little bit of a background on the animal, the length, height, or weight of the animal, and most importantly an image or a snapshot of the animal’s body part. It really puts into perspective on how large some animals can actually be.
April 30, 2010
Named one of the Orbis Pictus honor books for 2005, Actual Size by Steve Jenkins is made up of torn and cut paper collages of life-size animals or animal parts. School Library Journal calls the book “an enticing way to introduce children to diversity in the natural world.” Not only is it enticing to its audience – preschool through grade five – but this book is amazing for anyone, regardless of age, who picks it up. The book’s cover immediately grabs you by comparing a gorilla’s hand to the size of a Pygmy mouse lemur. With its big, bold colors and crisp, white background, Actual Size takes hold of the reader’s attention from the first page. Each double page spread throughout the book is filled up with one or two animals or animal features, a single sentence about each animal and its weight and height information. Even the title page and end page include illustrations of and information about animals. The varying sizes of the collages make this book come alive. To see the dwarf goby fish on one page and then just the eye of the giant squid on the next page allows the reader to really take in how tiny or massive animals can be. Even though Steve Jenkins only shows the eye of the giant squid in real size, the entire body of the squid, along with all the other animals, is shown on the last three pages in the book. The author also uses this space to share more information about each animal, including its habitat, characteristics, what it eats and how it defends itself against predators. Jenkins shows great respect for his audience by teaching about these animals through colorful, textured art and simple sentences with clear information, while also giving more advanced readers a chance to learn more about the animals at the back of the book. Steve Jenkins has been making appealing and well-received nonfiction picture books for years and many of them deal with some aspect of science. While he doesn’t identify or credit any experts consulted during his research process for Actual Size, he, himself, has become quite an expert during his many years as a children’s book author. Also, his website lists a number of resources and links he uses for his research in general. I highly recommend Actual Size for any teacher or parent who wants to amaze and entice their students or kids to think more deeply about the animals and the world around them!!
March 5, 2012
In the picture book, Actual Size by Steve Jenkins, images of all the animals shown are at actual size, both large and small. Page by page the author shows a number of animals, displayed in their actual size, with their dimensions included beneath the image. For the larger images it’s almost startling to see just how grand the actual size is in proportion to the page of the book. For example, one turns the page to see it is entirely filled with the eyeball of the giant squid, measuring in at twelve inches across. Just as interesting are the smaller animals, like the dwarf goby fish, which is so small I missed it during my first read through of the book. The illustrations are done collage style with cut paper, adding a texture like feel to the animals, so vivid the reader may want to touch the page. Included in the back of the book are short paragraphs on each animal included, giving a bit more background information.
The standout feature of this picture book is the images that Jenkins creates with cut paper, giving them a layered, realistic feel. Many of the animals appear to have realistic looking fur because of how the images are created. Since the pictures are so vivid, it makes interacting with the book almost necessary. I read this text aloud with my seventh grade students and they were captivated; amazed at some of the actual sizes of the animals included. This book would work well as a read aloud, it’s incredibly engaging for children of varying grade levels. On the page that has the hand of a gorilla; students could compare their own hand size to the image. This book offers many different classroom tie ins. It could be used as a math lesson, comparing or graphing the differing sizes of the animals. It naturally also fits a science lesson, since it introduces such a wide range of animals. With older students, a teacher could use this book in order to have students research the geographic locations of the animals in the story. The afterword at the end is a nice way to provide a few more facts on the animals, possibly enticing a student to learn more.
The standout feature of this picture book is the images that Jenkins creates with cut paper, giving them a layered, realistic feel. Many of the animals appear to have realistic looking fur because of how the images are created. Since the pictures are so vivid, it makes interacting with the book almost necessary. I read this text aloud with my seventh grade students and they were captivated; amazed at some of the actual sizes of the animals included. This book would work well as a read aloud, it’s incredibly engaging for children of varying grade levels. On the page that has the hand of a gorilla; students could compare their own hand size to the image. This book offers many different classroom tie ins. It could be used as a math lesson, comparing or graphing the differing sizes of the animals. It naturally also fits a science lesson, since it introduces such a wide range of animals. With older students, a teacher could use this book in order to have students research the geographic locations of the animals in the story. The afterword at the end is a nice way to provide a few more facts on the animals, possibly enticing a student to learn more.
November 21, 2011
Actual Size by Steve Jenkins is an incredibly creative informational book. Jenkins purpose is to provide readers with facts about different animals and visuals of the actual size. For example, a giant anteater's tongue is two feet long, so Jenkins provides a visual of this animals head with a tongue the actual size of two feet. The visual is accompanied with additional facts like the length of the body and tail as well as the weight. In addition to the two page spread of these animals, in the back of the book is a list of all the animals included in the book with even more information for readers as well as a picture of the whole animal.
The illustrations in the book are cut-paper collage with white backgrounds. These illustrations are very eye catching and enhance the information included in the book specifically because the purpose of the book is to show readers the actual size of different body parts of animals.
The author's writing style is clear and generates a great amount of enthusiasm for the topic. The book's format and design is very appealing to young readers. Young readers as well as adults love seeing the actual size of animals parts. For example, any time I have seen someone read this book, they can't help, but compare their hand to the hand of a gorilla included in the book. This book is presented in an organized manner especially how Jenkins provides the additional resource in the back of the book where readers can learn more about the animals and see an illustration of the whole animal.
This book is a favorite in my classroom as well as one I love to read aloud to my class because the students reactions' are always full of fascination and excitement!
The illustrations in the book are cut-paper collage with white backgrounds. These illustrations are very eye catching and enhance the information included in the book specifically because the purpose of the book is to show readers the actual size of different body parts of animals.
The author's writing style is clear and generates a great amount of enthusiasm for the topic. The book's format and design is very appealing to young readers. Young readers as well as adults love seeing the actual size of animals parts. For example, any time I have seen someone read this book, they can't help, but compare their hand to the hand of a gorilla included in the book. This book is presented in an organized manner especially how Jenkins provides the additional resource in the back of the book where readers can learn more about the animals and see an illustration of the whole animal.
This book is a favorite in my classroom as well as one I love to read aloud to my class because the students reactions' are always full of fascination and excitement!
March 21, 2019
The book Actual Size by Steve Jenkins was a very informative children's book about animals across the world and how they are built. Multiple different animals were introduced throughout the book, including the Alaskan brown bear, the Goliath Birdeater Tarantula, the Goliath frog, the Great White Shark, the Siberian tiger, and many others. The book gave descriptions such as height, weight, color, and where they can be found throughout the world. The back of the book includes a more in-depth overview of each of the animals.
I personally really enjoyed this book. I think it can be a really neat way to introduce students to different kinds of animals, including animals they might not see everyday. The book includes birds, spiders, insects, mammals, and more, and I think students would enjoy looking at the illustrations. I also like how the illustrations are drawn to scale to give students a better idea of what the animals would actually look like in person.
In the classroom, I think students would enjoy taking their own measurements, whether that be of their hand, of their foot, of their eye or ear, etc., and then students can draw their own scaled model of that body part, and then they can write some sort of description about themselves. For example, a student could draw a picture of their smile, and then he/she could write about how many teeth they have and things they enjoy eating. I could collect all of their pictures and hang them up around the classroom. For an extra level of fun, we could have students try to guess who drew what based off the pictures and description.
I personally really enjoyed this book. I think it can be a really neat way to introduce students to different kinds of animals, including animals they might not see everyday. The book includes birds, spiders, insects, mammals, and more, and I think students would enjoy looking at the illustrations. I also like how the illustrations are drawn to scale to give students a better idea of what the animals would actually look like in person.
In the classroom, I think students would enjoy taking their own measurements, whether that be of their hand, of their foot, of their eye or ear, etc., and then students can draw their own scaled model of that body part, and then they can write some sort of description about themselves. For example, a student could draw a picture of their smile, and then he/she could write about how many teeth they have and things they enjoy eating. I could collect all of their pictures and hang them up around the classroom. For an extra level of fun, we could have students try to guess who drew what based off the pictures and description.
March 27, 2013
We read Prehistoric Actual Size by Steve Jenkins last summer and we really liked it. Recently I posted my review for another of his books, Dogs and Cats, here on Goodreads, and I saw that he also wrote this book, so I immediately put it on hold at our local library.
This is a fascinating book featuring very large and small animals, showing them (or at least parts of them) in actual size. The narrative is very simple, and the illustrations are marvelous. And I loved that each animal was shown in its entirety at the end of the book, with a concise paragraph that offers additional information. Our girls wanted me to read them all, which is somewhat unusual for the 'end notes,' especially if they are lengthy.
Overall, this is an entertaining book that is informative, but entertaining, too. We really enjoyed reading this book together and we will have to look for more books by Steve Jenkins at our local library.
This is a fascinating book featuring very large and small animals, showing them (or at least parts of them) in actual size. The narrative is very simple, and the illustrations are marvelous. And I loved that each animal was shown in its entirety at the end of the book, with a concise paragraph that offers additional information. Our girls wanted me to read them all, which is somewhat unusual for the 'end notes,' especially if they are lengthy.
Overall, this is an entertaining book that is informative, but entertaining, too. We really enjoyed reading this book together and we will have to look for more books by Steve Jenkins at our local library.
June 4, 2012
Jenkins presents various animals and insects, or parts of them in actual size using cut and torn paper collages. Some of the authentically colored collages represent the entire animal at actual size. Others show a specific body part at actual size according to what fits on a page or on a two page spread. The actual physical dimensions and some interesting facts (what is eaten) are presented for the illustrations. Two fold-outs present a Goliath frog and the teeth/mouth of a saltwater crocodile. Jenkins uses the torn paper to cleverly present the color and texture of the creatures included in this book. There is an index at the end with an illustration of each creature and further fact-filled information. Readers can determine how they measure up to these creatures or their body parts and learn some fascinating facts. “Actual Size” can be used when studying animals in science or when studying measurement in math. Ages 4 and up.
Houghton Mifflin Company New York 2004
Houghton Mifflin Company New York 2004
March 9, 2011
Actual Size, by Steve Jenkins, is an original and visually captivating book that shows the actual scale or size of various animals and insects. From a dwarf goby (the smallest fish of all) to an African Elephant, Jenkins gives the reader an excellent visual perspective which shows the creature's actual size. The artwork is beautiful and will be sure to grab the interest of any young reader. At the end of the story the author gives additional facts and pertinent information about the animals featured in the book. I would recommend this book for Grades K-3. It would be a great story to use when learning about measurement. Another fun book about measurement is, Is a Paw a Foot?: All About Measurement (Artlist Collection: the Dog) by Kris Hirschmann.
March 28, 2011
I can't say enough good things about this book! It presents animals in actual size. Several are so big that you only get to see part of them—an eye, or a foot, or a face. My four-year-old son and I both loved this book. I think I'd like to come back to it when he's a bit older too, as I think he will appreciate it even more then.
December 5, 2012
Love this informational book about animals. It is very realistic especially when they show how long a crocodiles mouth is and they show it with a fold out page that illustrate just how long it really is compared to us. Even a brown bears head is amazing to compare to your own head. It is a great book to have in a classroom for students to learn facts about animals.
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